


Softness in Her Eyes

by itsmoonpeaches



Series: Lost My Heart in Republic City [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Kataang Week, Kataang Week 2020, Post-100 Year War (Avatar TV), Post-Avatar: The Last Airbender, Post-Canon, Pre-Avatar: Legend of Korra, Republic City, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:53:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25571635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmoonpeaches/pseuds/itsmoonpeaches
Summary: Prompt: Soft-“Uh, dad,” said Katara, a frown on her face. “You haven’t touched your food. Is something wrong?”Startled out of his thoughts, Hakoda quickly looked back up. He cleared his throat. “I ah…I don’t know what you’re talking about, Katara.”She gave him a pointed look, placing her chopsticks down on the wooden table with a light clink.He exhaled, feeling shame. “Alright. Fine, I give up. You win,” he conceded. He raised his hands in defeat. “Call it a father’s intuition, but don’t you notice all these lowlifes leering at you?”-Or, Hakoda notices that the marriageable-aged population can't seem to control itself when it comes to his daughter. He wants to kill a few of them.
Relationships: Aang & Hakoda (Avatar), Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Hakoda & Katara (Avatar)
Series: Lost My Heart in Republic City [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1851508
Comments: 23
Kudos: 234





	Softness in Her Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day 2 for Kataang Week 2020: Soft.
> 
> Apparently, I love markets because I've only just now noticed that I keep writing about them. Food is great people, and so is shopping.

Hakoda did not frequent Cranefish Town as much as he wished he could. (His son insisted on starting to call it Republic City and it was hardly catching on...) It was a fledgling establishment and had grown too fast for comfort, but he supposed an influx in technology in a world that had been centering its efforts on a now nonexistent war made this. The place had started to become a center for trade and commerce within the last year since Avatar Aang and his friends put a stop to bender supremacy. As the chief of the Southern Water Tribe, he could see the merits of keeping tabs on such a place.

In fact, now that he could see all the ogling stares directed to his daughter who was walking obliviously beside him, he was making plans on visiting more often.

So, his daughter had gotten womanlier and more gorgeous over the years. She was the spitting image of his late wife, Kya. Big deal. That would not be a problem, really, if it were not for the sheer annoyance that threatened to break him apart into a small army of soldiers seeking vengeance. She was only seventeen for spirits’ sake! Suddenly, she was over the acceptable Water Tribe marriage age, and there were men flocking to her like fruit flies over a simmering piece of melon baking under the sun. 

He growled over a steaming bowl of olive-green seaweed noodles. The restaurant Katara had chosen for them to eat their dinner after an entire day of looking over trade agreements for their tribe really was fantastic. Everything tasted authentic, even the barbequed arctic hen. Hakoda just could not bring himself to enjoy _any of it_ when there were about _whole tables full of idiots_ staring with wanting eyes at his one and only daughter. 

Really, he could not take it anymore. Did every man of marriageable age from both the Northern and Southern Water Tribes have any decency? Did they not realize that he was her father, or did they have a death wish? He was more than willing to fend off a few people with his club. He did fight in the war, and he did have experience with polar bear dogs. Two polar bear dogs at the same time, to be exact.

“Uh, dad,” said Katara, a frown on her face. “You haven’t touched your food. Is something wrong?”

Startled out of his thoughts, Hakoda quickly looked back up. He cleared his throat. “I ah…I don’t know what you’re talking about, Katara.”

She gave him a pointed look, placing her chopsticks down on the wooden table with a light _clink._

He exhaled, feeling shame. “Alright. Fine, I give up. You win,” he conceded. He raised his hands in defeat. “Call it a father’s intuition, but don’t you notice all these lowlifes leering at you?”

In the background, Hakoda could see the numerous patrons shouting about something to a man decked out in Water Tribe blues, everyone goading him on for whatever it was they wanted him to accomplish. Furniture screeched against the dirty tiles; cups were tapped together. There was an obnoxious laugh or two.

Katara scoffed and crossed her arms. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she denied. “Even if I did see what you were seeing, I could take care of it myself.”

Hakoda snickered, leaning backward into his chair. “Of course, I know you will,” he said. He peered at her with a careful look and a serious expression. “But you know what your age and lack of a husband means to the Water Tribes…especially to the North.”

Katara rolled her eyes but chose not to respond.

“You’re a waterbending master, one of the heroes that ended the war, and a prominent world figure,” he supplied, sounding pleased for all the truths he spoke despite the situation. “That makes you more than a marriageable maid, and as much as we both hate it, it makes you a target. I won’t have my daughter be taken advantage of by unworthy suitors, and if that means knocking some heads together if I see anyone else dare to look at you in a certain way then—”

“Dad!” she exclaimed, exasperated. 

The two of them started bickering over the topic, but Hakoda would not back down. If there was anyone that Katara inherited her stubbornness from, it was him. He would protect his daughter at all costs, even if it meant more than a little embarrassment on her end. He knew she would dislike it, but _someone_ in the family had to keep an eye on her if Sokka insisted on leaving her alone.

A man coughed beside their table. Hakoda glanced upward, meeting the gaze of the very same Water Tribe man that he had heard being goaded earlier. He was taller than his son by a few inches and had the same complexion. He had darker eyes than most in the tribes, and hair that was chin length and pulled hallway up into a Warrior’s Wolf Tail similar to his own. 

“The name’s Hahn, Chief Hakoda,” the man intoned with a sure voice. “I met your daughter briefly when she fought with us in the Northern Water Tribe.”

Hakoda reached for him and they grasped forearms. “It’s nice to meet you, Hahn.”

Just as quickly as the two men had greeted each other, Hahn let go. He turned his attention to Katara like there was no one else in the room and everyone else was disregarded.

“So, I hear you aren’t taken,” smirked Hahn from the North. “What if you pick me for a husband, Master Katara?”

Hakoda could feel the spurning fires of aggravation stir within his gut. _Not this again,_ he seethed in his thoughts. _The audacity of some of these people!_

She looked taken aback, and he could feel the anger seeping into every motion she started. Her eyes flashed, her jaw clenched, even the soup from their supper started to wobble. “What? No!” she shouted. “Just because I’m not married doesn’t mean I’m not taken! If this is the same stunt you pulled when you tried to marry Princess Yue, I am _not_ having it. Leave me alone! I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m with Aang, so you can back off.”

Hahn backtracked and tried to placate her. “Oh, come on! You’re over sixteen! If he hasn’t asked you yet—”

“That doesn’t mean anything!” she bellowed. “I’m not ready for that yet.”

Hakoda noted how his daughter said _yet._ He hid a smile behind his hands, a bubble of mirth waiting to burst forth. He was relieved that he could keep her for more time. He was not ready to let go of his little girl himself.

She slammed a handful of coins on the table and turned her attention back to Hakoda. “Let’s go,” she bit out with force. “We’re out of here.”

All he could do was stutter an apology to the wait staff. He did not bother to acknowledge the half-witted fool who attempted to make a pass at his daughter. She must have been furious because he had to run to catch up to her. In fact, he had no idea what to say. Forcing the entire ordeal to the back of his mind, he opted to follow her and see where she went.

After moments of uncomfortable silence, he noticed that they were now making their way through an outdoor market. The lamplight was low, and the sun was close to setting, but there were still hawkers on the streets advertising their wares. He noticed that Katara began to slow.

“Can we make a pit stop really quick?” she asked with her back still to him. Her tense shoulders had begun to loosen.

“Sure,” he replied, hesitant. “What did you need to do?”

She finally stopped in front of a stall selling baskets of fruit by the water near the bay. There were various kinds that he did not see often. Guavas, moon peaches, rambutan, and many others were carefully laid out. An older lady was behind the produce, cleaning off a weighing scale. 

Katara tilted her face toward him. She had a soft smile there, the sort he remembered Kya would give to him whenever she thought he was being particularly charming. “I just…” She glanced shyly away, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “I wanted to get some mangoes for Aang. The other day, we tried some and he said they were his favorite. He said they were sweeter than the ones he had grown up with.”

Hakoda’s eyebrows crept up his forehead.

Katara grabbed onto one, turning it around to check its ripeness. “He’s been having a hard time lately,” she continued as she picked up a different one. “There’s still remnants of the bender supremacists and he’s been working hard trying to talk them down.”

“Have you been able to help him out?”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “But there’s only so much I can do.”

They had ended up staying at the stall for a few more minutes while Katara searched for the perfect two mangoes. She settled on a pair that were reddish green. With a satisfied hum, they made their way back to the city center where they were to meet up with Sokka and Toph before they returned to the inn.

As they arrived, mangoes in a satchel at his daughter’s hip, Hakoda could not help but marvel at the rapid change in attitude she had just by thinking of Aang. Katara was known for her temper and her passionate strides. She could hold a grudge, could be irritated for hours. But what he had seen was something he never thought he would ever witness.

She had a glow about her, a certain clarity in the way she spoke about Aang. Of course, Hakoda had known that they had been together since the end of the Hundred Year War. Though perhaps he had not quite grasped the concept until then. He had always subconsciously seen it as an extension of friendship, and only friendship. While being best friends was a tried and true foundation, he could see that there was something deeper than that, and it was as if his Katara was a different person.

Hakoda turned when there was a commotion and a swell of voices. Multiple people still milling about the city center started spreading apart. The Avatar had walked into the hall. However, he had no eyes for them. He made a beeline for his daughter, a spring in his step.

“Hey Katara,” greeted Aang with his trademark grin as they met. He saw as his daughter embraced him, all her features softening in a way that she did not for anyone else. Not even her own family. “How was your day?”

Katara chuckled, her twinkling eyes locked onto his. “You wouldn’t believe what those officials put us through.”

“Oh, really? What did they do?” he teased.

“You know, the usual. All the complaining.”

The two of them laughed as if it was inside joke. Hakoda thought he was listening to a song when he heard his daughter’s melodic laugh. She had become radiant in the span of a few seconds. He stepped back, stunned. 

“I got you some mangoes for later,” Katara beamed. “That way, you can have breakfast tomorrow without having to get out of your room. You can sleep in.”

Hakoda did note the bags under the Avatar’s eyes. Everything about him screamed fatigue. Even through all of that, he still seemed to brighten at every word Katara said.

“Wow, thanks,” Aang breathed, cupping her cheek. He did not move in to kiss her, but it appeared as if the two of them wanted to. Hakoda knew that Aang would not, if only for the sake of Katara’s own father in the vicinity. 

A pretentious man dressed in extravagant Earth Kingdom attire came skittering in with indignant screams, asking for the Avatar. Katara and Aang split apart.

Aang glanced at Hakoda, bowing to him with an apologetic look, and took off to see what was going on.

“Good luck, Aang!” he yelled after him, putting a hand to the side of his mouth for emphasis. He watched as the Avatar lifted a hand in appreciation.

There was a pause. He could feel his daughter staring at him.

“You’ve gone soft,” observed Katara as he looked back at her. “What happened to scaring off guys that look at me wrong?”

Hakoda smiled. “Aang is different. Besides, he wasn’t looking at you the way those other rat vipers were.”

She lifted a questioning eyebrow with a smirk. “Oh yeah?”

“He’s the only one that respects you,” he replied.

He watched Katara glimpse behind her to watch Aang talk to the Earth Kingdom business tycoon. Even in that second, she was gentle in her contemplation. The Avatar stood tall, confident, and radiated a quiet kind of power. It simmered below the surface, controlled. In any other person, Hakoda would have been wary. In Aang, he felt nothing but relaxed.

His daughter was entranced by him, and her cheeks were a rosy pink. Hakoda suddenly realized what people meant when they claimed that someone became more beautiful when they were in love.

 _Spirits,_ he thought, _I really have gotten soft._

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed that! Please leave a comment below!


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